Emdad Rahman
A group of young people from Neighbours in Poplar and the Splash Youth Group have returned after delivering aid to a refugee camp near the port of Calais named “The Jungle”. After weeks of preparing packs and collecting donations from a generous local community, the team of ten departed London accompanied by Sister Christine Frost to distribute the goods.
Donated items included toys, clothes, tinned food and hygiene products. Youth Worker Amrana Begum said: “We set to work organising donated items after receiving advice from other people who had already gone out distributing at the camps in Calais. Our team settled on making basic packs that could be given out to men, women and children alike.”
A single pack consisted of a bag of rice, tinned veg/soup, sardines, cosmetics and water. The group also took drinks, sleeping bags, hats, gloves and toys.
The group were greeted cheerily by the residents. “They were very co-operative when we asked them to form a line,” added Amrana. “We distributed all the goods we had brought for the refugees and when we ran out, we gave out the food we had packed for ourselves. When they could see how upset we were at running out of donations, the residents assured us that it was fine and made us feel better about the situation.
“This kind of reaction was exactly why we chose to go to Calais in the first place. We wanted to deliver the goods personally so that we could interact with the people ‘benefiting’ from our charity. If anybody benefited at all, it was us. The patience and understanding our hosts conveyed was a real eye opener.”
Through their experience the youngsters were able to witness the squalid conditions of the people living there. Ridwan Rahman was part of the aid group. He said: “The people have made the best of their situation. It was as if we had arrived at a shanty town with makeshift houses, convenience stores and a plastic church at the centre of the camp. The refugees were willing to talk to us, some spoke barely any English, while some were more eloquent than us!
“We also enjoyed a kick-about with the young children at the camp. Every single person regardless of race, age or religion was happy to see us and stayed with us long after we had anything else left to give.”
•The group are planning another visit already. To donate please go to: https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/TeamCalais
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